Draw-curtain fixture



J., H. ECW

DRAW CURTAIN FIXTUR Filed Jan.

Amigal 31 @26 Patented Aug. 31, 1926.

dU NIT-ED lS T A TES PATENT ersten.

JAMES H. BOYE, OF-GHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSGNOR TO JAMES I-I. BOYEMANUFACTUR- ING COMPANY, "OF CHICAGO, 'll'iIIIlOIV` A CORPORAE'ION 10FILLINOIS.

Application led January This invention .relates -to curtain 'fixturesvof the .draw curtain type,.havingreference more particularly 4toconstructions -wherein the curtain, portire or drape lis suspended fromthe curtainrod by a series of sliding rings- `In draw curtainXtureso-.this type einploying eXtensible .telescoping rod sections,considerable diieulty in drawing the `curtains closedhas heretofore been.experienced due tothe actthat,in drawingthe curtains.

. and wherein the ditlicultyabove-referred to ot drawing the'rings overthe inner end of theouter teleseoping rod sectioniwhen closing thecurtains will .be avoided. Another object. is to provideaidraw `curtainconstruction wherein, whenthecurtains are drawn to open position, thesupporting. rings may be very closelystacked in partly 'overlappingrelation, thereby atlioiding a maximum opening ot the upperportion Votthe curtain .directly beneath or if-n front of the. rod.

Other objects and :attendant advantages of the invention will beapparent to persons slrilled vin the art as thesame becomes betterunderstood from thefollowing detailed description and by referenceto theaccompanying drawingwherein I have illustrated practical and preferredYembodiments of the principle ot' the invention, and inwvliich- Fig. 1is'a front elevation ofmy improved curtain fixtureshowing the upper-edgeportions ot the curtains suspended'therefrom;

Fig; 2 is atop. plan view ofthe right hand portion of Fig. l;

Fig-3 is a front elevation of the left hand portion of' Fig. 1` showing.the vleft hand curtain drawnto open position and illustrating thest'ackingoff .the rings on therod;

Rig. Y 4 -is-L anlenlarged cross-section. on the line-4 4 yof Fig; 1 i icord .i'suattachedg 17, 11925. .SeralNo. 25977.

/Figs is an enlarged crosssseetion .on thel line 5-f5iofFig. 1l;

Fig. i6 is adragrnentary front elevation, partly in verticallongitudinal section. through one of the rings :to .which the draw Fig.7 is :a eross-sectionon .the line 7e-.7 ot' F ig. 6;

Figi is afside eleva-tion of ,a imodified torinoi ringgand Fig. 9 Lis'-a .fragmentary ronbelevation showing theV curtain suspended from thevzupper rontsides of :the rings and concealing the latter.

Referring to the drawing,f10:f:and lldes.- ignaterespectively tlaezinnerand outer telescopingsections ot aA curtain rod ofthe welllnown flattype, and l2 designates brackets in `which theelbowshaped .endsof'theirod sections 10 and ll are mounted and supported'. 113 designateseach of the tfWohalves. ofthe curtain, which aresuspendednattheir upper`edges 'from the curtain rod: by inea-ns of.y .generally oblong .filatirings or.v haneersllll otggreater length than the widthofztie rod,these.y hangers being. .torinedwith eyes 115 '..at theirlower endstowhich .the upper-edges:

of the'curtains 13 areuattached asby stitchf ingil.

As most clearly; shown inFig-s. 6. and?, each, ot the' hangerslais;ornieldfon its. upper end with :a shoe `or'skidfl? fthati v'slidinglyrestsion the 'upperv edge of .the urod; is-A formed` withalongitudinally convex inner surtace bearing .on the rod. "In :the-preerredembodiment of the invention, this shoe or skid 1'7 vhas Aalengthconsiderably greaterthanl the widthv of' the sides of the hanger,the mainapurpose; of' which is'to enable the convex,ibearingvsurfaeesot? the shoe tobe ftorrned Vwith vsuch z-a smalldegree. ofi curvature that, when tlie'liangeriis drawn from therodsection-.10 ontoi` thefrodsection 11` by the pullxcord itwi-ll readilymount and ride. over theshoulder 18 :formed by'theinner end of theuouterrod'secti-onfll. This itifcan `readily dorby'reason of the fact? thatthe loopA ot" the hanger Vdoes f notrv engage with the lower edgeIo't'tthe .rodbut vis` freetof tilt edgewise onl its topbearingjas acenter :of swing. Ordinary!roundfhangerfrings;which haveheretoiforelbeen used inlfdraw curtain over, but frequently sticks andrequires nto be manually liftedover the.. shoulder. I have discoveredthat this yfault can be completely cured byproviding on the upper endVof the ring or hanger a conveXvrodbearing surface having a lowinclination or degree of curvature and of suchk length that vthe advanceend thereof, with reference to the direct-ion of-.travel, will` be at a'greater height from the rod section 10 than the shoulder18 formed by theend of the rod .Y rod.

section 11, and also makingthe loop of Ythe hanger sufliciently longerthan the width of the rod that it can freely tilt edgewisewithoutinterference with the lower edge of the The same principle of ,a shoe orskid on the upper end of the curtain supporting hangers may be embodiedin a hanger such as that shown at 14 in Fig. 8,fwherein the hang-er isofuniform width throughout, the sid-es having a width equal to the lengthof theshoeor skid 17.

Referring to the means for drawingthe curtains open-,and closed alongthe curtainr rod, 19 designates a hanger bracket mounted on the outerend portion yof the vrod section 10 and conveniently consisting of astrip of sheet-metal formed at its upper end witha downturned hook orflangeV 20 (Fig. 4) engaging over the upper edge of the rod 10 and anupwardly direct-ed tongue 21 Vcut and bent rearwardly from the' .stockof the strip .and lying behind the .lower edge ofthe rod 10; togetherwith `a depending shankl 22 at itsl lower end bent into a Vrectangularframe 23 to form a housingl for a horizontal pulley 24 rotatably mountedon a Vvertical pintle 25 in said frame. The hanger bracket thus formedcan be readily slippedover one end of the rodl 10 andslid lengthwisethereof into proper position asshown in Fig. 1,

and secured by a clamp screw-26. At the corresponding outer end loftherod sectionv 11 is a mating hanger bracket 27 that is mounted andsecured on the rod in the same wayv .and .by the same means as thehanger bracket 19; the depending shank 28 thereof being formed atitslower end into a rectangular frame 29 in vwhich are journaled on ahorizontal pivot pin` 30 a pair of pulleys 31 and 32. A single draw cordfolded on itself and trained over lthe pulleys 24k 31 and'32 and.attached to the two central hangers serves to elfectthe opening andclosing movements of the curtains. -33 designates one depending endportion of the cord which depends from th-e pulley 31.

Continuous with the depending end portion` 33 is ahorizontall portion 34that extends tion 36, to which is attached by a similar clip 35 the lefthand one ofthe two central hangers 14shown in Fig. 1. Continuous with.thecordsection 36 and depending from the pulley 32 is the other endcord section 37. Manifest-ly', .by 'pulling4 downwardly on thedependingcord 33the hangers 14 on opposite-sides of the center of therod are drawn along thelatter toward the brackets 19 and .27 opening thecurtains. Conversely, by pulling downwardly on the depending cord l37,the hangers and curtains are drawn in the reverse direction, closing thecurtains. During this closing movement, the shoes or skids17 of thehangers at the left hand end of the rod, as shown in Fig. 1, ride easilyand without hitch or obstruction over the shoulder 1.8`formed by theiend of the rod section 11. Theouter vertical edges of the two curtains.are prevented from being drawn inwardly during the closing movement bylocating'the two end hangers 14. outside the pulley supporting brackets19 and 27, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

l/Vhen the curtains are drawn apart, the shoes or skids 17 i are tiltedor rocked, the foremost ends thereof relatively to the direction ofVmovement ybeing elevated, and the rear ends being vsubstant-iallytangent to theupper edge of the rod, so that the shoes or skids'partially overlap andl internest in the manner shown in Fig. .3, thusenablingl the v`curtain to be opened wider than is possible with the'useof ordinary ring hangers.. The same tilting of the skids 17 in theopposite direction occurs when the curtains are drawn closed, therebyfacilitating the riding of the skids smoothly and without hitch over theshoulder 18.

Some users of draw curtain fixtures prefer that the curtains shallcompletely hide their .suspending means ;r and this is provided krforina simple manner in the present invention by cutting and bending upwardlyfrom the front side of each of the hangers 14 an integral tongue or hook38, from which hooks .the upper edge of the curtain 13l is `readilyysuspended in the manner shownin Fig. 9.

. Vhile I have herein shown and described practica-l and workableembodiments of the principle of ythe invention, it is manifest that thestructural forms and details illustrated may be considerably varied andmodified by :persons skilled in the art with-l out departing from theprinciple or sacriicing any advantages of the invention..

I-Ience, I do not limit the invention to the exact fornissliown forpurposes of illustration, but reserve such variations and modiicationsas fall Within the .spirit and purview of the appended claims.

I claimy l. In a draw curtain fixture, they combination of a` curtainrod formed of telescoping sections, and curtain hangers slidably mountedon the top edge and free from the bottom edge of said rod and formed ontheir upper ends with skids having inclined bearing surfaces of lowinclination adapted to ride easily over the shoulder presented by theend'of the outer rod section.

2. In a draw curtain fixture, the combination of a curtain rod formed oftelescoping sections, and curtain hangers slidably mounted on the topedge and free from the bottom yedge of said rod "and formed on theirupper ends With skids each having a rodbearing surface inclinedupwardly'from its center to both ends, Whereby'said hangers swing freelyedgeivise from 'their bearing points as centers and ride easily over theshoulder presented by the end ofthe outer rod section when thecurtaiiiis drawn closed and overlap and stack up on each other when thecurtain is drawn open.

3. In a draw curtain fixture, the combination of a curtain rod formed oftelescoping sections, and curtain hangers slidably mounted on the topedge and free from the bottom edge of said rod and formed on their upperends with skids having longitudinal convex rod-bearing surfaces ofsufficient length and loiv degree of curvature to ride easily over theshoulder presented by the end of the outer rod section in edgeWisecanted position of said hangers.

ll. In a draw curtain fixture, the combination of a flat curtain rodformed of telescoping sections, and substantially. rectangular narrowcurtain hangers formed with parallel sides of greater length than theWidth of the rod slidably mounted on said rod and formed on their upperends With` skids having elongated inclined rod-bearing surfaces ofsufciently low inclination from the upper edge of said rod to rideeasily over the shoulder presented by the end of the outer presented bythe end of the outer rod section. i

6. In a draw curtain fixture, the combina` tion With a` flat curtainrod, of a curtain hanger slidably mounted on said rod, said' hangercomprising a substantially rectangular sheet-metalframe surrounding saidrod formed at the upper end of one side thereof With a hook forsuspending a curtain.

7. In a draw curtain xture, the combination with a. flat curtain rod, ofa curtain hanger slidably mounted on said rod, said hanger comprising asubstantially rectangular sheet-metal frame surrounding said rod andformed at the upper end of the front side `thereof with a hook forsuspending a curtain, and at its lovver end With an eye, and a clip forattachment toa draw cord suspended from said eye.V

JAMES H. Born.

